Confetti Slice


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In my travels to find a rainbow dot blouse I kind of stumbled across this recipe for cake batter rice crispy treats (you know what Google’s like), and they looked so pretty I thought I’d give them a try.

The recipe’s really quick and easy, and would make a great little treat at a special event.

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Ingredients:

2tbs butter

120g marshmallows

1/4 cup dry packet cake mix (vanilla or butter flavour)

2 1/2 cups of rice bubbles

25g 100s and 1000s

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Step 1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan

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Step 2. Add the marshmallows to the saucepan & turn the heat down low

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Step 3. Stir until the marshmallows have melted, then remove from the heat

DSCF5224Step 4.  Add the dry cake mix and stir in

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Step 5. Add the rice-bubbles and stir in

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Step 6. Add the hundreds and thousands, and – working quickly! – gently mix through. Don’t be too vigorous with this step or the colouring will run!

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Step 7. Pour the mix into a deep dish that’s been lined with baking paper

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Step 8. Using another piece of baking paper you can smoosh the slice flat

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Step 9. Let it set for about half an hour – it doesn’t have to go in the fridge, it should set at room temperature.

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Step 10. Once it’s set you should be able to cut it into squares with a shape knife

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Enjoy!

Frocks and Fruitcake

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Christmas eve, and I’ve finally made my traditional Christmas chocolate fruitcake that I mentioned in my most recent Guardian post.

I spent most of today trekking around Manhattan trying to fossick together the ingredients (why you no glacé cherries, New York?)

A couple of readers asked me to divulge my (not at all) secret recipe, so here we go!

 

Lilli’s Chocolate Christmas Cake

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Ingredients:

250g butter / 1 cup brown sugar / 1/2 cup brandy / 1kg dried fruit / 1 cup dark chocolate / 200g glacé cherries / 5 eggs / 2 tbsp treacle / 2 tsp lemon zest / 1 3/4 cup plain flour / 1/2 cup of self raising flour / 1 tsp bicarb soda / 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice

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Christmas Cake Ingredients 1

Step 1. Melt the butter, brandy, half a cup of water and the chocolate together in a large saucepan, then add the dried fruit, glacé cherries (I could only find maraschino, so I used those instead)  and bring the mix to the boil. Reduce the heat & allow to simmer for ten minutes.

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Step 2. Remove the pot from heat & allow the mix to cool.

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While the fruit mix is cooling, switch the oven on and set it to 300°F (150°C) and line the base and sides of a large cake tin with two or three layers of baking paper/greaseproof paper. Extend the paper at least 5cms above the tin.

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Step 3. Once the mix is cooled add the beaten eggs, the lemon zest and the treacle (again, I had trouble finding treacle, so I used molasses instead.)

Christmas Cake Ingredients 2

Step 4. Add the two flours, the bicarb and the mixed spice, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

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Step 5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and wrap another two layers of brown paper or baking paper around the outside of the cake tin. Extend the paper high, like you did with the previous layers.

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Step 6. Bake in the oven for 2 to 2.5 hours until a skewer inserted into the heart of the cake come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin, and then you can wrap it up in tinfoil and keep it for a few months…. or eat it straight away!

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